Canon Policy
Canon Policy sets out how information is to be labelled and used in the as well as general guidelines as to what is canonical. In Titannica’s pursuit of achieving the goal of becoming the most definitive, comprehensive and accessible repository of information relating to the Fighting Fantasy world, it is important that it remains reliable in its description of the Fighting Fantasy universe and associated material. Towards this end, it is important to ensure that the reader can be comfortable where the information comes from and that it has a solid basis in the published material relating to the Fighting Fantasy universe. This policy is not intended to mandate a single way of viewing the Fighting Fantasy universe, and does not exist to promote any particular critical judgement on the various publications; it exists to permit an orderly cataloguing of data with a maximum amount of fidelity to the published material. With that in mind, scholars should at all times be tolerant and respectful of other viewpoints, opinions, and conclusions. Summary of Policy Articles need to cite each resource used as the basis for their information. Generally, everything that appears in the various Fighting Fantasy publications in both text and pictorial format can be used as a resource for an article, although this is not exhaustive. To further clarify there are four main source classifications: *Canon *Non-canon **Apocrypha **Valid Extrapolation **Invalid resources Canon Canon covers material that is explicitly found in the various official publications of the Fighting Fantasy universe. These include: *The original Puffin run of gamebooks *[[Fighting Fantasy Collection - Puffin Books#Steve Jackson's Sorcery!|Steve Jackson's Sorcery!]] *The introductory role-playing books *[[Fighting Fantasy Collection - Puffin Books#Fighting Fantasy Novels|The Fighting Fantasy novels]] *[[Fighting Fantasy Collection - Puffin Books#The Advanced Fighting Fantasy System|The Advanced Fighting Fantasy system]] *''Fantasy Questbooks'' *''The Zagor Chronicles'''' *''Clash of the Princes'' *''The Fighting Fantasy Poster Book'' *''The Fighting Fantasy 10th Anniversary Yearbook'' *''Warlock'' magazine issues 1 to 13Status of Japanese continuation yet to be decided. *The Wizard run of gamebooks Citing Canon When using information explicitly derived from canon Titannica employs a "footnote" system of referencing. In brief, if something is derived from the first book in the series, The Warlock of Firetop Mountain then after the referenced piece of text write: : - ??? Thus, writing: :The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is called Zagor. - p.17 Will appear as: :The Warlock of Firetop Mountain is called Zagor.1 The superscript "1" is a link to footnotes at the bottom of the article where the reader knows the source and can immediately find out where the source for the information is and the footnote will usually contain a link to further information of the source. Non-Canon Because Titan is a world created by a variety of different authors over a long period it often appears to have little cohesion. Before the publishing of Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World, most of the books were not written with it mind that they were all set within the same world. Therefore, in the sense of being a fully operational fantasy world there are many gaps that need to be filled. This led to the establishment of such forums as Rebuilding Titan and Titan Rebuilding. Because of this, Titannica recognises certain non-canon sourced material. However, in all cases it is strongly urged that contributors and scholars ensure that where material is non-canon this fact is made explicit in the text. There are three grades of non-canon material: Apocrypha Material judged as apocrypha, in the context of Titannica, is acceptable in much the same way as canon. Apocryphal works are essentially works that are authorised by Puffin Books or Wizard Books or Scholastic Books but are not part of the published gamebooks series. This includes: *Fighting Fantasy Boardgames *Fighting Fantasy Computer Games *Material from the official website (Fightingfantasygamebooks.com) *D20 Myriador Booklets *Arion Games publications *Other miscellaneous authorised material Valid Extrapolation This means extrapolation from both canon and apocryphal sources. As mentioned above, there are many gaps in the world of Titan that dedicated fans have worked hard to fill with theories extrapolated from the text. For example, the ruins of Balkash are mentioned fleetingly in the guidebook Titan - The Fighting Fantasy World as being a place Gereth Yaztromo visited, yet they appear nowhere else in any of the texts. The same can be said for hundreds of other references, such as Amarkisk in The Fighting Fantasy 10th Anniversary Yearbook (there is an entry: "227AC, 23rd Unlocking: Siege of Amarkisk" – the entry does not say where Amarkisk is nor does any other text). Such pieces of information are both tantalizing and potentially illuminating. Combined with a broad understanding of the world of Titan and in-depth knowledge of certain areas, it is possible to extrapolate credible theories that are firmly based in explicit facts from canon. Titannica welcomes this additional input, although the extrapolation must be explicitly referenced as such. It should be stressed that this method should only be pursued if the Fighting Fantasy knowledge of the contributor is good and their arguments robust. In Titannica terms, extrapolation is by far the weakest of the acceptable methods of sourcing material and it will be challenged vigorously by the scholars. Invalid Resources As can be seen from the above section on valid extrapolation, Titannica can be very flexible if extrapolation is not abused. However, some resources are considered invalid and should not be referenced in any form. This is essentially anything that does not fall into the definitions of canon, apocrypha or valid extrapolation above. Fan fiction that has no basis on canon published material is not acceptable. Conflicts in Valid Resources Canon is king. If the entry is from published material then no other grade of acceptable material can validly overwrite it. In the event of a conflict between otherwise valid canon resources, the preferred approach is that the conflict should be noted and both resources remain valid. As far as possible, conflict produced by valid resources should be presented in such a manner as to be resolved fairly. The presumption should be that a conflict does not exist unless no other explanation is reasonable under the circumstances. In these instances, the canonical sources for either side of the conflict need to be cited. Extrapolation can then be used to explain how the differences between the two sources can be resolved within the context of an "in-universe" perspective of Titan. This extrapolation needs to be noted as such. Article Types On Titannica, there are two main types of article: *''Fighting Fantasy'' universe articles or in-universe articles. These articles are written about subjects inside the Fighting Fantasy universe, using an "in-universe" point of view. Subjects can include events, objects, or anything mentioned in a valid resource (see above). They must adhere to this canon policy. *Meta articles. These articles are written from a "meta" or real life point of view, and are written about the Fighting Fantasy franchise. Subjects can include articles about the authors, illustrators, publishers, etc., as well as articles about novels, games, and other official materials. These pages are not covered by the canon policy. **Hybrid Articles. It should be noted that articles can be a hybrid between the two types noted above with the different parts of the article having the canon rules applied dependent on whether it is "in-universe" or "meta". Deleting Invalid Articles (In whole or in Part) If a Titannica universe article contains nothing but information cited to non-valid resources, it may be listed on and thereafter deleted in accordance with the then-current deletion policy. See Also *Titannica *Titannica Wiki Formatting References pages for deletion Category:Policies and Guidelines